Google and Twitter can’t police web content, says British AG

Google and Twitter cannot “act like a policeman” of content on their networks, the attorney general has said in his strongest intervention yet on regulation of the internet.

Dominic Grieve described as an “common sense” a suggestion by the MPs and peers that privacy injunctions should routinely be served on internet companies, as well as newspapers and broadcasters.

“That certainly seems to me an interesting suggestion. The interesting question is seems to me is, if this should be done on a more routine basis, then that seems to have some force. It is very wise; it’s a suggestion of ordinary common sense,” Grieve told the Guardian.

Grieve added that social networks must “act responsibly” and obey the law of the land, but said that “excessive regulation” of cyberspace could pose a threat to civil liberties online.